I was watching a discussion about vegan diets for children the other day and it left me wondering how vegan parents navigate raising vegan children. I raised my kids before being vegan, so the issue never arose for me.
I did some background research and found firstly, plenty of information and resources for parents, which is good. But I also learned that advice from most authorities is somewhat mixed, with the overall conclusion being that vegan children are at risk of reduced growth, nutritional deficiency, and that they must be fed a carefully planned diet. Worse, that old vegan go-to, the position paper of the National Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, has withdrawn it's stance that a vegan diet is suitable for all stages of life and now recommends it only for adults (that doesn't mean they don't recommend it for children, they just don't say so).
Now there are all sorts of curiosities (for example, shouldn't all parents ensure a healthy diet for their kids?), but I take the point. Someone who feeds their child a balanced diet with some fruit, veg, dairy, meat and fish can be confident their child is getting good nutrition. They don't have to become nutritional experts nor engage a nutritionist.
But vegan parents have to be much more switched on about food and nutrition and may benefit from professional advice (indeed, some authorities recommend that as a matter of course). As well, they face the problem of external influences, social interactions (ie "fitting in"), and of course children can be notoriously fussy about what they eat. It's easy to get a child to eat chicken or fish, but not always easy to get them to eat Brussels sprouts or chickpeas.
On top of all this, most parents are probably not that motivated to make the effort that vegan parents do. In the modern world, that kind of attention to detail and persuasion etc adds stress.
So my question is, how do vegan parents navigate all of this? How do they check nutritional adequacy - should they have their children take regular blood tests, or just hope for the best? How flexible should they be by allowing animal-sourced foods?
I did some background research and found firstly, plenty of information and resources for parents, which is good. But I also learned that advice from most authorities is somewhat mixed, with the overall conclusion being that vegan children are at risk of reduced growth, nutritional deficiency, and that they must be fed a carefully planned diet. Worse, that old vegan go-to, the position paper of the National Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, has withdrawn it's stance that a vegan diet is suitable for all stages of life and now recommends it only for adults (that doesn't mean they don't recommend it for children, they just don't say so).
Now there are all sorts of curiosities (for example, shouldn't all parents ensure a healthy diet for their kids?), but I take the point. Someone who feeds their child a balanced diet with some fruit, veg, dairy, meat and fish can be confident their child is getting good nutrition. They don't have to become nutritional experts nor engage a nutritionist.
But vegan parents have to be much more switched on about food and nutrition and may benefit from professional advice (indeed, some authorities recommend that as a matter of course). As well, they face the problem of external influences, social interactions (ie "fitting in"), and of course children can be notoriously fussy about what they eat. It's easy to get a child to eat chicken or fish, but not always easy to get them to eat Brussels sprouts or chickpeas.
On top of all this, most parents are probably not that motivated to make the effort that vegan parents do. In the modern world, that kind of attention to detail and persuasion etc adds stress.
So my question is, how do vegan parents navigate all of this? How do they check nutritional adequacy - should they have their children take regular blood tests, or just hope for the best? How flexible should they be by allowing animal-sourced foods?
